In refineries, petroleum feedstock is converted to valuable products, using different techniques. However, while converting the feedstock to valuable products, large quantity of residue is obtained. There is a need for the effective conversion of petroleum feedstock into desired petrochemical products and fuel feedstock with limited quantities of residue.
To limit residue production, different methods are employed like delayed coking, fluidized bed cracking, slurry phase hydrocracking for the up-gradation of refinery residue.
Hydrocracking of refinery residue requires high temperature, high pressure, and high hydrogen to oil ratio. Therefore, the conventional methods used for the hydrocracking may not be useful for residue up-gradation.
The use of catalyst-based systems for the cracking of the hydrocarbon feedstock is technically viable. However, the use of relatively expensive catalyst systems, catalyst deactivation, low quality of derived products and the need for catalyst recovery make these systems less viable for industrial applications. Different catalytic systems are used for the effective conversion of petroleum feedstock. However, many conventional catalysts cannot withstand the severe reaction conditions.
Another major drawback of the prior art processes is that they do not exhibit sufficiently high conversions of refinery residue at very low residence time and low catalyst concentrations, to be of interest for industrial applications. In most cases the catalyst is costly or suffers deactivation due to severe reaction conditions.
There is, therefore, an evident necessity for further improvements in the process for conversion of refinery residue.